Love, Annabeth
by xLittle Black Star
Summary: You know something, Dad? I think you did well by me after all. :: a series of letters from daughter to father over the years. Father's Day tribute piece.


**Notes1: **Sort of a companion fic for _Que Sera, Sera. _Sally/Percy for Mother's Day, Frederick/Annabeth for Father's Day. It's only fitting, really.

**Notes2: **This is letter writing format, and it's supposed to be personalized, so if you see a smiley face or something don't die over the grammar atrocity.

**song choice: **_Cinderella, _Steven Curtis Chapman

* * *

Dear Frederick Chase,

I ran away because I hate it here and I don't think your wife is very nice and so I didn't want to stay anymore. At first I was going to but _she_ doesn't let me do anything and she doesn't kill spiders and she doesn't believe anything I say. And the kids at school are dumb so I don't wanna talk to them either, so I don't like anyone here, except Bobby and Matthew, but I'm not allowed to talk to them anyway so it doesn't even matter. That's why I left.

I don't feel sad about it, either. I don't care. Really.

And I bet you don't care because you don't even talk to me anymore and I tuck myself in now and I make my own lunches and I do my homework by myself, so it's not even like things will be that different without me. And I bet _she _doesn't care because she never liked me anyway and I never liked her either. There won't be any more monster attacks and weird stuff won't happen anymore so I know you'll both be very happy.

Also please don't look for me because I can take care of myself and I don't even need parents. Anyway, Mom told me she would help so you don't have to be worried even though I don't care what you think.

Also you should be quieter when you talk downstairs because I could hear all the "grown up stuff" you were talking about and if you don't want Bobby and Matthew to run away too that might be a good idea._ She _is very loud and she says really mean things so you should probably tell her that too.

I think maybe I'll come back if you get a divorce. And maybe if you don't go to work as much because the house is very quiet and I get bored. And if you flip pancakes into the air again and help me with my Lego models.

Yeah. Maybe I'll come back then.

But that hasn't happened yet so I guess I won't see you for a long time, so goodbye.

Sincerely,

Annabeth

* * *

Father,

Obviously I got your letter.

I'm sorry the reply is so late, but you have to understand that it's a lot to take in. I'm not really sure how I feel about it yet. Anyway, it took me some time to decide how to respond.

Look—Camp Half-Blood is my home, and nothing will change that. This is where kids like me were meant to be. But at the same time, a lot of kids stay with their mortal parents during the school year. I thought it might be good to get out into the real world a little, and Chiron agreed. Even my friend Luke said I should think about it.

So I did. And I decided that it's time to give the mortal world another shot. It'll be nice to see Virginia again, anyway. It's been so long. I'm still not sure how I feel about seeing your wife again, though, and I would bet she feels the same way. We never got along, but it's been so many years… my scent is even stronger. If she thought I was a dangerous when I was seven, I don't understand how it's going to work now. But I guess I'm willing to try, if she is, and if you are.

If it doesn't work out, I'm coming right back home. To camp. You can respect that, can't you?

But anyway, I already told Chiron I wouldn't be staying year round, which means you have to come by the end of the summer. The harpies are really vicious when they find unregistered campers.

So I guess I'll see you soon, then?

From,

Annabeth

* * *

Dear Father,

I understand it's been a long time since we've had any correspondence.

I'm sure you agree that last time I saw you was horrible. I'm in no rush to do that again. However, things are changing at camp. Enrollment rates are lower than ever, and judging by this past summer, things are… stirring. I have some hypotheses, and they're looking more and more likely as time goes on. Luke isn't himself lately, and I can tell Chiron is getting nervous. Even Dionysus seems more agitated than usual.

That's not really the point though. Basically, I went on a quest this summer… look, my friend's mom died. She's okay now (it's a long story), but I guess it just made me think. I mean, life is really short, and you never know what could happen.

Anyway, he suggested that I write to you. Maybe try and work things out. He asked me a couple questions, like what I would do if I was in his situation, and I realized that I didn't really have an answer. If you know me at all, you know that I don't like not having answers. So I thought that maybe I should give you another chance, and that would help me figure it out. Because right now, I'm not really sure where my priorities lie. Like I said, things are changing, and I feel like it's important that I do this now.

Honestly, it took me so long to write this. I think this is my twentieth draft. I'm still not sure if it even makes sense. But I just thought that I would mention—well, I think I'm ready to try again. If you are.

From,

Annabeth

* * *

Dear Dad,

I think Chiron already called you, but I thought I should let you know that I'm okay. It took me awhile to get back to camp, and monsters chased me the whole way, but eventually I did make it.

Sorry it took so long to get in touch, but using my phone right now is probably a really terrible idea. The problem is the borders are weakening. Someone poisoned Thalia's tree and it's… dying. It's really hard to see it that way. It's even harder to see camp this way. And Percy told me that Grover needs help too. So I hope you understand that I have to do whatever it takes to fix this.

I'll try to stay safe, really I will, but if the tree dies, then no demigod will ever be safe. I can't let that happen. Especially because I think I might know how to help.

I promise to be careful. Hopefully I'll see you soon.

Love,

Annabeth

* * *

Dad,

I can't move to San Francisco.

I don't mean to be difficult (even though I know Sunita probably won't believe me), but I really can't. Even Chiron told me not to, and he's always tried to get me to live with you.

I don't expect you to understand, but it's dangerous. I mean, you'd rather I be safe, right?

Look, I just… maybe it's better we take a break from this, and I go back to living year round again. I don't know. I'll call you.

–Annabeth

* * *

Dear Dad,

I know I left suddenly. It was just that… well, something came up. It wasn't necessarily dangerous or anything, but I just… I needed to come to camp. For a little while.

It's okay. But with Mount Tam and stuff with… well, with Luke… look, it's a long story. I'm sorry if I worried you. I promise it's nothing like the mess in December. I'm safe.

I do think that I'll probably stay here for a while, though. I might as well, because I'm already here. It's just that the camp morale is so _low _right now, and we've already lost too many campers already. I figured it would be better off if I spent as much time here as possible, me being a counselor and all. My siblings need me right now, and I always do my best thinking here. I don't think I could stand to leave right now, and I can tell Malcolm is trying to resist begging me not to.

I hope you understand. Call me if you need me, I'll leave my phone on. I hope everything's alright in San Francisco.

Love,

Annabeth

* * *

Dear Dad,

I'm sure Chiron contacted you already because he's _really _anal about that, but I decided you probably wanted to hear from me and I guess I owed you that.

I'm leaving tomorrow on another quest. Actually, by the time you get this I'll probably be long gone… well, maybe I'll call you later. But anyway, as of now, we're scheduled to leave tomorrow (that would be me, Percy, Grover and Tyson, by the way).

I don't want to lie. It's really dangerous. If I hadn't been waiting for a quest so long, and if it wasn't so closely connected with Athena, I probably wouldn't do it. But there's a Labyrinth (as in Daedalus' Labyrinth, I'm sure you know the one) entrance into camp, and there will probably be an army coming through it soon if we don't do something about it. Anyway, I've been roped into it for kind of awhile now, so it was only fitting that I should lead the quest (and Daedalus is my brother, but I'm sure you know that too).

Do yourself a favor and don't research it. Not to be grim, but you probably won't like what you see. And I have to do it, so there's no sense obsessing over my choices. Anyway, Percy would be damned before he let something happen to me, so try and think about that instead. God's willing I'll be fine, and I know that at least Athena is on my side.

Just try not to worry, okay? It won't help either one of us. I love you.

Love,

Annabeth

* * *

Dear Dad,

I just talked to you a couple hours ago, but I wanted to write something down. Ink is more permanent, you know?

I'm not even sure if I'll send this, but I wanted to write it now, just in case, because this is important. I'm not trying to be morbid or scare you, but I don't know what's going to happen this summer. Things are bad, Dad, like _really _bad. I can't believe Luke is actually going through with this, but… he is. And it looks like we're going to be fighting a full-scale war soon. And the Great Prophecy (I told you about that, right?) will most likely be fulfilled by the end of August, if you can believe it.

It's just so unfair. The damn thing has been around for 70 years. Why does it have to be about the people _I _know? And why should I have to deal with it? But regardless, I do, and I am. So like I said, I wanted to write some things down just in case I don't get lucky this time. Actually, nevermind that; I know how much you hate leaving things up to luck and random chance. I wanted to write some things down in case the Fates aren't in my favor this time.

I know that things haven't been so easy over the years. In fact, let's be honest: they've been really, really hard, and sometimes horrible. I was so angry for so long. But I think I might understand now. I mean, you loved me all along. I know you did. But the gods really screw up mortals' lives (I've seen it enough times to know) and it wasn't really fair for my mother to dump so much on you so soon. I guess I never really realized that it must be different for the fathers of Athena's children, because Mom doesn't exactly like to give warnings, and she always assumes that her way is best. I bet she punished you somehow for being unsure about having a daughter, when you were probably just scared. I used to think that it didn't make sense for an adult to be afraid of anything, but the older I get the younger I feel. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for being so… judgmental. I mean, I'm not saying that I was wrong for running away or anything. I think we both know that it was a reasonable decision. But I am sorry for being so… selfish. I guess little girls just don't realize. Or maybe I just didn't. Either way, it wasn't right for me to ask you to get a divorce (but she really _was _horrible. She's changed a lot), or to ask you to neglect Matthew and Bobby for me. Really, all I ever wanted was to be part of a family, but looking back on it, I would have handled it so differently. And it's really not in my nature to say that so you better appreciate it, because I don't think I'll ever say it out loud.

Look, just because I apologized doesn't mean I think how you treated me was okay. It wasn't. But you know that already, and gods know we've fought about it. I don't mean to make you feel guilty, I've already done that enough. But I wanted to tell you that I forgive you. You could probably tell, but I thought it was important to say it. Or at least write it down. I've moved on, and I don't have the anger and bitterness about it anymore. I'm just really, really happy we could get past it. I don't want something that happened ten years ago to dictate our relationship.

And I also just wanted to say that I love you. I've never really said that to anyone else, but I guess it's only fitting that the first person I say it to should be my father, right? But really, Dad, I do love you, and in spite of everything, I'm really glad you're my father.

I thought you should know. And maybe we can go to Greece next summer, okay?

Love,

Annabeth

* * *

Dear Dad,

I could tell when we talked earlier you weren't too happy I was staying in New York, so I guess I just wanted to say thanks for being cool about it. I mean, I would have done it anyway, but thanks for not fighting me on it.

Also, I would really appreciate it if you didn't give me a lecture on how it's wrong to build my life around a boy next time I see you, because I know that you're probably thinking it (and if you aren't, Sunita probably is). And please don't start being the over-protective father or anything. No need to go loading your shotgun, I'm perfectly capable of killing him myself, you know ;) Anyway, I'm too logical to get my heart broken, so don't even worry about it. I'm a big girl, you know.

And please, Dad, spare me the awkward relationship talk. Like seriously, I really think I'll die of embarrassment, so please don't ever even bring it up.

You don't have to write back or anything. I'll just call you in the future. But I really didn't think I could handle this conversation over the phone, so here you go.

Love,

Annabeth

* * *

Dear Dad,

Hey, how have you been? I feel like it's been forever since we've talked. I'm sorry if you've been calling me, but my phone has been off since December. I'm trying to use it as little as possible these days, because the monsters are much stronger than usual, so Chiron is hypersensitive about it.

And that's kind of the whole problem (not Chiron. The monsters). See, there's this thing called the Doors of Death, and they're like the gateway into Tartarus. And Gaea (that would be Kronos' psychotic mother, but I'm guessing you already knew that) has opened them, which means that the monsters don't really stay dead anymore. So, understandably, I'm trying to stay as close to camp as possible. I'm finishing out the school year as best I can, but… it's hard, Dad.

Everyone is just so stressed and exhausted. I don't know if the camp can handle another Great Prophecy. Especially not so soon. And I really don't know if _I _can handle another Great Prophecy. Unfortunately, it would appear that Percy and I are part of the Seven, which _sucks. _I really thought we'd get off easy this time.

Speaking of which. I know you heard about Percy's disappearance and Hera's crackpot plan and whatever, but we're no closer right now than we were last month. It's so bizarre, because I know where he should be, but it still seems like he's completely vanished off the face of the planet. Gods, Dad, it's just so awful, and I hate it so much. But there's nothing I can really do. To make matters worse, Chiron seems to think I'm being to brash and reckless lately, so he's keeping an iron grip on me, like I'm going to spontaneously combust or something (not that I can really blame him. Sometimes I feel that way). So I can't go anywhere, which means that I can't visit for a while.

It also means that I'm gonna have to ask you to do something for me. See, we have absolutely _no _news coming from San Francisco. Everyone is way too afraid to go there, especially before we know if the Romans are willing to cooperate. So can you do me a favor and just… keep an eye out? I mean, I'm not sure what you should really be looking for (did I mention Jason's memories are coming back _painfully slow?_). Maybe drill sergeants wearing purple or Percy causing the Golden Gate Bridge to explode or something like that (because he _would_). I don't really know. But if you notice anything, anything at all, please tell me. I'm kind of desperate, here.

I'm sorry to overload you with all my sappy, girly feelings. I'm just feeling a little sappy and girly right now is all.

Anyway, I hope everything's alright with you and Sunita and the twins. Tell Bobby and Matthew I'll try and see them as soon as I can, and that the bet is still on. Love you and miss you.

Love,

Annabeth

* * *

Dear Dad,

Hey! I've missed you the past few months :) I have so much to tell you and hopefully we can catch up soon.

Right now, though, I'm writing to tell you that we'll be leaving for New Rome in the morning. Gods, I really don't even know if I can wait that long. I'm about as patient as a fruit fly, remember when you used to tell me that?

But yeah, we're heading to California tomorrow, and then we'll probably go straight into another quest. Things have been so crazy, and this prophecy is going much faster than the last one. At this rate, we'll be fighting another war before the end of the year.

That's another thing. It turns out I probably will be flying to Greece this summer. Gods, it's so ironic. Do you think the Fates do that on purpose?

Anyway, I really need to get to bed. Hopefully I can sleep. And don't worry, Dad, I'll do my absolute best to stay safe. Love you.

Love,

Annabeth

* * *

Dear Dad,

Happy Father's Day!

Right now, I'm writing from the Argo II. We'll be approachingRome any day now.

Dad, I'm not sure what's going to happen. Things with Athena… well, they're horrible, to say the least. I'm a little vague on what she wants from me, and I'm definitely dreading whatever I'll have to do. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terrified. Actually, normally I _would _lie, but you're my father and you'd probably find out anyway, and it's so much easier to be honest on paper. I've always thought so.

I know it's probably useless to tell you not to worry. I think everyone is worried right now. I'm not naïve enough to guarantee that I'll make it home. I know there are so many things that could go wrong, and I know you're probably trying your best not to focus on them (I don't blame you, I am too). But, Dad, it's not the first time I've beaten the odds, and you can mark my words, it won't be the last. Right now, I'm just going to ask you to have faith in me. I promised I would do my best to stay safe, so you have to trust me, okay?

The thing is, Dad, lately I've been thinking a lot about my childhood. I guess that makes sense, because I'm a teenager now and my whole life pretty much feels like a joke. I wish things could go back to being that easy, you know? And then, I started to think about how my childhood—like, when I was _really _tiny—really _was _easy. You always gave me attention. I remember sitting in on your college lectures, and you used to tell me I was your best student. And you used to tell me myths, because even back then I thought fairytales were too childish, and you used to change the endings because I guess I was too little to hear the truth. And I remember Father's Famous Flying Flapjacks—gods, I used to think it was magic. You used to spend hours with me on Lego models too, even though you probably had more important things to do. And remember how we trained the dog together? Did I ever tell you how much that came in handy later on?

More than that, though, I remember the little things. You tucked me in every night and taught me how to brush my hair. I think you were the reason I always kept it long, to be honest. I even remember the Latin lullabies, even though I had to have been, what, three years old? Maybe even two?

The point is, though, my childhood wasn't really as horrible as I always remembered. It's like my brain skipped over all the good things and twisted the bad to be a lot worse than it really was. I know things changed a lot when Sunita came into the picture, but I don't blame her anymore. It wasn't really her fault. I don't think it was anyone's fault. Life just happens sometimes, and none of us are perfect.

So, it _is _Father's Day, and I wanted to say I love you. Thanks for all those years. And thanks for giving me memories to lean on. I know things haven't always been easy, but no matter what, I'm happy you're my father.

And you know something, Dad? I think you did well by me after all.

Love,

Annabeth

* * *

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**Notes3: **I sobbed almost pathetically while writing this. I was also listening to _Cinderella _while I wrote, so that might've had something to do with it.

**Notes4: **I thought it was important to write this, because if you think about it, most fictional fathers are horrible, dead, or they walked out. I know Frederick isn't perfect but he at least _tries, _and that's more than you can say for, I dunno, Valentine Morgenstern.


End file.
